Surviving Hurricane May

When my six kiddos were still little and all in school I came to DREAD May. It became the most stressful and overwhelming month of the year. Concerts, programs, awards ceremonies, field trips, graduations and everything associated with the end of the school year. It wasn't so bad until the older kids got, well - older. That meant six kids scattered in three different schools - which naturally tripled the number of events - and everyone wanted it all to happen in May.

For several years my "May" calendar looked like someone had squashed a giant spider on it - it was black with spindly lines going every which way all over the page. And yes, it felt hairy - I was very harried.

Now that my kids are older life isn't scattered in quite soooooo many directions - but I'm also older and I don't recuperate as well and I'm not as patient and long-suffering as I used to be - so I'm still harried and I still feel like hyper-ventilating on April 30th Eve. Because I know May is coming - like a hurricane.

So, now that it's June I can finally breathe and detoxify from those wicked little stress hormones that made me eat half bag of red vine licorice the weekend my middle daughter graduated from college and then finished the other half two weeks later when my youngest daughter graduated from high school. Thank goodness I had the foresight to not bring anything chocolate into the house - unless you count the celebration cake my daughter brought home from Olive Garden which I managed to eat more than my share of anyway.

What I have to figure out is how to not let such good things stress me - but I do know that working full time has really changed what causes me stress and what I've learned to let go. So now that the musicals, graduations, banquets, concerts, awards ceremonies, parties, end-of-the-school-year everything are gone and past (or is it passed - as in passed out?) I can finally sit down and look back and enjoy all of the amazing moments of all those musicals, graduations, banquets, concerts, awards ceremonies, parties, and end-of-the-school-year memories. In June I can celebrate all the good things that have filled my May's for so many years. June is when I can sit down and remember May instead of having to live through it. Or maybe I'll just follow baby Harlow's lead and when things get too overwhelming I'll just take a nap on my bag of Doritos.